How did you like it? What discount did you receive? What would you recommend to others considering European Delivery?

We go to Europe about every year, and plan to go this summer to visit my Wife's family. We generally fly from LAx to a hub airport in a city such as Munich or Frankfurt before going on to Vilnius, so the European delivery, especially with the discount they offer, would be quite nice.

I did ED this past Nov. - Dec. and it was amazing. Like others have said, check out the forum dedicated to ED and be sure to stop by and read the wiki (located at the top of that forum as a sticky), as well.

To see how much you can save (7% off) head over to bmwconfig.com and choose European Delivery from the right drop down after you configure the car.

Lastly, I leave you with two pictures of my X1 during my ED and a link to the thread where I posted my entire private album of photos we took during our ED.

I did ED this past Nov. - Dec. and it was amazing. Like others have said, check out the forum dedicated to ED and be sure to stop by and read the wiki (located at the top of that forum as a sticky), as well.

Nice pics! I give you extra props for scheduling ED in winter! I guess you didn't bother with winter tire rental?

How long did it take for the car to be re-delivered after dropping off in Europe? I've heard that the shipping of ED cars are not prioritized like the new ones since the sale has already been accounted for?

Nice pics! I give you extra props for scheduling ED in winter! I guess you didn't bother with winter tire rental?

How long did it take for the car to be re-delivered after dropping off in Europe? I've heard that the shipping of ED cars are not prioritized like the new ones since the sale has already been accounted for?

Thanks. We did not do winter tire rental, but it was light snow and my car had m+s al l season tires. We had no issues with it.

We dropped the car off on Dec 3 and it hit US shores on Jan 5. Since my car comes through an east coast port the estimated time is 4-6 weeks. West coast deliveries have a 6-8 week delivery estimate. My car still has to go through VPC and then board a transport truck to Louisiana. We hope to see it in the next two weeks. The wait felt long but the entire experience was totally worth it.

The people at BMW Welt in Munich make bmw owners feel extra special. Do it if you can afford the time off and wait after.

I've done 3 Euro deliveries so far: 2005 X3, 2007 335i and 2009 M3. I've started planning the fourth one this summer for an X1.

It is an absolutely incredible experience, they make you feel special at the Welt, you bond with your car in a way it's simply not possible when picking up in the US, and you get a hefty discount for it too.

Hope this is not a dumb question, but why would they offer a discount due to ED VS US/CDN delivery? Does it actually cost BMW less for ED?

I would think it actually cost BMW more to do an ED as they need to meet and greet you in Germany and extra communication with the local dealer.

Thanks.

Not a dumb question, but they do. And it's substantial. Enough to essentially pay for your trip.

Maybe they get some import duty break since it's now a "used car" coming over on the boat. I honestly don't know the math, but I hope they keep it. I' haven't been able to do it yet (just bought by first ever new BMW, so missed my first ever chance!) but hope to some day.

BTW, I HAVE toured the Munich factory and if you ever are in Germany for ED or any other reason I highly recommend it.

Not a dumb question, but they do. And it's substantial. Enough to essentially pay for your trip.

Maybe they get some import duty break since it's now a "used car" coming over on the boat. I honestly don't know the math, but I hope they keep it. I' haven't been able to do it yet (just bought by first ever new BMW, so missed my first ever chance!) but hope to some day.

BTW, I HAVE toured the Munich factory and if you ever are in Germany for ED or any other reason I highly recommend it.

The most plausible explanations I've come across say that you order directly from the European factory's inventory,not from BMWNA inventory. That accomplishes 2 things:
- takes BMWNA off the books money wise, thus the savings (which seems to indicate that BMWNA takes a 7% cut usually)
- allows your local dealer to sell one more car, because they have fixed monthly allocations against of which your car would otherwise be counted against.

So not only do you get a 7% discount, but the local dealer should be extremely amenable to deals and discounts. When I bought my M it was a fairly new model and great deals were hard to come by, but I got a 12% discount total. And of course, got to drive it all over Europe, do the Alpine passes, the Nurburgring, in other words the works.

It's worth checking out, especially if you already had plans to visit Europe.

Hope this is not a dumb question, but why would they offer a discount due to ED VS US/CDN delivery? Does it actually cost BMW less for ED?

I would think it actually cost BMW more to do an ED as they need to meet and greet you in Germany and extra communication with the local dealer.

Thanks.

Canadian ED programme is not the same as the U.S. There is no 7% discount, but you do get the car and free insurance. If it is over there for many months, then there will be less duty when it comes to Canada as it is now a "used" car.

So, you are correct sir. It does cost them more, but will help increase brand and customer sat.

Not a dumb question, but they do. And it's substantial. Enough to essentially pay for your trip.

Maybe they get some import duty break since it's now a "used car" coming over on the boat. I honestly don't know the math, but I hope they keep it. I' haven't been able to do it yet (just bought by first ever new BMW, so missed my first ever chance!) but hope to some day.

BTW, I HAVE toured the Munich factory and if you ever are in Germany for ED or any other reason I highly recommend it.

The most plausible explanations I've come across say that you order directly from the European factory's inventory,not from BMWNA inventory. That accomplishes 2 things:
- takes BMWNA off the books money wise, thus the savings (which seems to indicate that BMWNA takes a 7% cut usually)
- allows your local dealer to sell one more car, because they have fixed monthly allocations against of which your car would otherwise be counted against.

So not only do you get a 7% discount, but the local dealer should be extremely amenable to deals and discounts. When I bought my M it was a fairly new model and great deals were hard to come by, but I got a 12% discount total. And of course, got to drive it all over Europe, do the Alpine passes, the Nurburgring, in other words the works.

It's worth checking out, especially if you already had plans to visit Europe.

The allocation not coming from the dealer has recently changed and some cars (x1 and m3 as examples) must still come out of dealer allocation, and this kills dealers willingness to sell one at $500 over ED invoice.

The allocation not coming from the dealer has recently changed and some cars (x1 and m3 as examples) must still come out of dealer allocation, and this kills dealers willingness to sell one at $500 over ED invoice.